water resources for the future · “promoting integrated watershed development programmes through...

WATER RESOURCES FOR THE FUTURE

Proceedings of the International Conferenceorganized in collaboration with the

Italian Ministry for the Environment and Territory

Porto Cervo, Sassari, Sardinia, Italy22-24 October 2003

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Rome, 2006

Edited by Larry Tennyson and Pier Carlo Zingari

PREPARING FOR THE NEXT GENERATION OF WATERSHED MANAGEMENT

PROGRAMMES AND PROJECTS

The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinionwhatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal or development statusof any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

All rights reserved. Reproduction and dissemination of material in this information product for educational or other non-commercial purposes are authorized without any prior written permission from the copyright holders provided the source is fullyacknowledged. Reproduction of material in this information product for resale or other commercial purposes is prohibitedwithout written permission of the copyright holders.

Applications for such permission should be addressed to:

ChiefPublishing Management Service Information Division FAOViale delle Terme di Caracalla00100 RomeItaly

or by e-mail to:[email protected]

© FAO 2006

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PREFACE

On the occasion of the International Year of Mountains, and in response to the clear consensusreached by the international community regarding the need to ensure harmonious andsustainable development of mountainous areas and watersheds, the Food and AgricultureOrganization of the United Nations (FAO) and its partners undertook a large-scale assessmentand global review of the current status and future trends regarding knowledge about andtechniques for integrated watershed management.

The objectives were to promote the exchange and dissemination of experiences of integratedwatershed management techniques, identify constraints to the implementation anddevelopment of those techniques during the decade from 1990 to 2000 and capture relevantnew paradigms and approaches. The lessons learned from diverse experiences are being used todefine a new generation of integrated watershed management projects.

Experts from four continents contributed to the assessment, which yielded four main outputs:1) a review of experiences in watershed management, based on questionnaires that were sent toactive partners in the field; 2) substantive reports from four regional workshops held inNairobi (Kenya), Kathmandu (Nepal), Arequipa (Peru) and Megève (France); 3) four casestudies from the Mediterranean basin, Nepal, Bolivia and Burundi; and 4) an internationalconference in Porto Cervo, Sassari Province, Sardinia, Italy.

Watershed management concepts and approaches were reviewed, and different experiencesassessed. The results of this exercise are presented in several documents, including theproceedings of workshops and reports on the four case studies.

The conservation, use and sustainable management of watershed resources in order to meet thedemands of growing populations have been a high priority for many countries over the pastseveral decades. In this respect, integrated watershed management through people’sparticipation has become widely accepted as the approach that ensures sound sustainablenatural resources management and a better economy for upland inhabitants, as well as peopleliving in downstream areas.

The International Watershed Management Conference on Water Resources for the Future washeld from 22 to 24 October 2003, in Sardinia (Italy) at Porto Cervo, Province of Sassari. Thislocation offered a very appropriate venue for the conference, because water scarcity, soilerosion, low forest cover and opportunities for tourism development in Sardinia offer issues todiscuss and share that are very relevant to approaches related to watershed management in

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many other areas of the world. The international conference was the culmination of the seriesof regional workshops described above. The conference, which brought together about 67participants representing 19 countries, provided a forum for inter-regional exchange onwatershed management and water-related issues.

El Hadji Sène Sebastiano SannituDirector Forest Resources Division Assessore all’AmbienteFAO, Rome e alla Valorizzazione del Territorio,

Vice Presidente della Provincia di Sassari

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CONTENTS

Preface ...................................................................................................................................................... iiiAcknowledgements................................................................................................................................ viiAcronyms .............................................................................................................................................. viiiIntroduction.............................................................................................................................................. 1

Sassari Declaration .............................................................................................................................. 3

PART 1 FAO WATERSHED MANAGEMENT REVIEW

CHAPTER 1 Preparing the next generation of watershed management programmes ...................................... 9Moujahed Achouri

CHAPTER 2 Review and assessment of watershed management strategies and approaches .......................... 17Larry Tennyson

CHAPTER 3 Outcome of the African regional workshop on preparing the next generation of watershedmanagement programmes .................................................................................................................... 39Brent Swallow

CHAPTER 4 Reflection on two decades of watershed management experience in Asia (1983 to 2003) ........ 45Kumar Prasad Upadhyay

CHAPTER 5 Integrated watershed management in Latin America and the Caribbean .................................. 57Luís Sanchez

CHAPTER 6 Mediterranean watershed management: overcoming water crisis in the Mediterranean ........ 61Luc Dassonville and Luca Fé d’Ostiani

PART 2 NETWORKING EXPERIENCES

CHAPTER 7 Integrated water resource management over the world ................................................................ 75Gilles Neveu

CHAPTER 8 Integrated watershed management and forests ................................................................................ 81Pier Carlo Zingari

CHAPTER 9 The Canadian Model Forest concept .................................................................................................. 85Peter Besseau

CHAPTER 10 IUFRO and watershed management: The challenges between research and application ........ 91Gernot Fiebeger

PART 3 WATERSHED AND AREA STUDIES

CHAPTER 11 Restoring hydrologic function of altered landscapes: an integrated watershed management approach .................................................................................................... 101Kenneth N. Brooks, Dean Current, Donald Wyse

CHAPTER 12 Watershed management in the Alpine context: Summary of the report on storm events andlessons learned in Alpine countries.................................................................................................... 115Peter Greminger

CHAPTER 13 Towards effective watershed management in low forest cover countries .................................. 133Patrick Duffy


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CHAPTER 14 What are the impacts of deforestation in the Himalayas on flooding in the lowlands?Rethinking an old paradigm .............................................................................................................. 137Thomas Hofer

CHAPTER 15 The Guaraní Aquifer System: Water resources for the future .................................................... 145Claudio R. Gutierrez

PART 4 WATER AND LAND IN SARDINIA

CHAPTER 16 The integrated water cycle in the context of water management systems: The Sardinian experience .................................................................................................................... 153Sebastiano Sannitu

CHAPTER 17 Aspects of environmental degradation in Sardinia ........................................................................ 163Angelo Aru, D. Tomasi and A. Vacca

CHAPTER 18 Conflict management in support of decision-making for water use .......................................... 179Giorgio Cesari

ANNEXES

ANNEX A Opening and welcome addresses........................................................................................................ 187ANNEX B Working group discussions ................................................................................................................ 191ANNEX C International conference programme .............................................................................................. 199ANNEX D Conference participants .................................................................................................................... 203

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The International Conference on Watershed Management: Water Resources for the Future,held in Porto Cervo, Sassari, Italy from 22 to 24 October 2003, was a milestone in global-level collaboration. A sincere thank you is extended to the people and institutions fromvarious disciplines, countries and regions that participated in and contributed to the successof the conference.

Special thanks to Tage Michaelsen (FAO retiree), who inspired and emphasized the role offorests in watershed management. Appreciation is extended to: Sebastiano Sannitu, electedofficial in charge of the environment and Vice-President of the Province of Sassari, Italy;Maria Antonietta Accolli and Francesca Caria, Administrative Officers of the Province ofSassari, Italy; Larry Tennyson, FAO Consultant; Moujahed Achouri, FAO Officer; AlineFaucher, FAO Volunteer; and Pier Carlo Zingari, Director of the European Observatory ofMountain Forest (EOMF).

FAO is grateful to the Italian Ministry of Environment that supported the process, and to allconference personnel who provided invaluable assistance.

These proceedings have been prepared thanks to collaboration among Maria Antonietta Accolli,Francesca Caria and Aline Faucher. FAO is also grateful to the co-editors: Larry Tennyson and Pier Carlo Zingari.


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ACRONYMS

APAT Agenzia per l’Ambiente e il Territorio (Italy)BMPs Best Management PracticesBUWAL Bundesamt für Umwelt, Wald und Landschaft (Switzerland)CGIAR Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research CLUWRR Centre for Land Use and Water Resources Research (United Kingdom)DSS Decision Support SystemEAPI Environment and Policy Institute (East-West Centre)EFCWP European Forestry Commission Working PartyEOMF European Observatory of Mountain ForestEPA Environmental Protection Agency (United States)FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United NationsFORC/FAO Forest Conservation Service/FAOGEF Global Environment FacilityGIS Geographic Information SystemGPS global positioning systemGTZ German Agency for Technical CooperationHR human resourcesICARDA International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry AreasICIMOD International Centre for Integrated Mountain DevelopmentICRAF International Centre for Research in Agroforestry/World Agroforestry CentreIIED International Institute for Environment and DevelopmentIMFN International Model Forest NetworkINRM Integrated Natural Resources ManagementIRBM Integrated River Basin ManagementIUFRO International Union of Forest Resources OrganizationsIWM integrated water managementIWRM integrated water resources managementIWSM integrated watershed managementIYM International Year of MountainsM&E monitoring and evaluationMIS Management Information SystemMRI Mountain Research InitiativeNGO Non-Governmental OrganizationOIEAU Office International de l’EauPES payment for environmental servicesREDLACH Latin American Network for Technical Cooperation in Watershed ManagementUN United NationsUNCED United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (the Earth Summit)UNDP United Nations Development ProgrammeUNEP United Nations Environment ProgrammeUNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization WM watershed management

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INTRODUCTION

The conservation, use and sustainable management of watershed resources to meet the demandsof growing populations have been a high priority of many countries for several decades.

In this respect, integrated watershed management through people’s participation has becomewidely accepted as the approach that ensures sound sustainable management of water andother natural resources and a better agriculture economy for upland inhabitants, as well asbenefits for people living in downstream areas.

Integrated watershed management has been recognized as a suitable approach to addressingpoverty and the need for food security of upland populations, as well as of people livingdownstream. The watershed management approach integrates various aspects of forestry,agriculture, hydrology, ecology, soils, physical climatology and other sciences, thus providinga comprehensive information base for choosing acceptable management alternatives within thesocial and economic context.

Chapter 13 of UNCED Agenda 21, for which FAO is the UN Task Manager, stresses that“Promoting integrated watershed development programmes through effective participation oflocal people is a key to preventing further ecological imbalance. An integrated approach isneeded for conserving, upgrading and using the natural resource base of land, water, plant,animal and human resources”.

Although much progress has been achieved in watershed management, no clear picture hasbeen drawn of what has been successful and what needs to be done to improve futurewatershed management programmes. Therefore, an in-depth analysis of watershedmanagement achievements and existing gaps was identified by FAO as a prerequisite to furtherdevelopment of watershed management programmes.

In this respect, FAO initiated a review and assessment of watershed management developmentstrategies and approaches with a goal of providing reliable information to concernedstakeholders regarding lessons learned, existing gaps and guidelines for the next generation ofwatershed management programmes. The following major steps were taken:

� stocktaking exercise; � case studies; � regional workshops; � international conference; � dissemination of results.

The International Conference on Watershed Management: Water Resources for the Future, atPorto Cervo, Sassari, Sardinia, Italy from 22 to 24 October 2003, was the culmination of aseries of regional workshops (in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean),which were convened as part of the FAO review. During 2002, the Forest Conservation Service


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of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FORC/FAO) initiated aglobal-level review and assessment of watershed management development strategies andapproaches with a goal of providing state-of-the-art information to concerned stakeholdersregarding lessons learned, existing gaps and guidelines for the next generation of watershedmanagement programmes.

The objectives of the conference were twofold: 1) to provide a forum for inter-regionalexchange of information and discussion of watershed management and water-related issues;and 2) to present results of the global FAO watershed management review initiative fordiscussion and direction regarding future watershed management programmes.

The conference was attended by 67 participants (Annex D) from a variety of disciplines,representing 19 countries. Several presentations were made during the course of theconference. Presentations made available for publication have been grouped in this volumeunder four main headings: FAO watershed management review; ongoing networkingexperiences, watershed and area studies, and water and land in Sardinia.

Minutes of group discussions held during the conference are presented in Annex B. Some ofthe key points identified by working groups are summarized in the following.

Watershed management

� Appropriateness: Need to consider carefully if and how watershed strategies from one areaare appropriate to other areas: e.g. context, setting, culture, religion and other considerationswill affect uptake and success.

� Best and most modern technology, although often demanded, is not always the mostappropriate. Some criteria to consider when selecting interventions are scale, targetstakeholders, local expertise and site conditions.

� Awareness and engagement: A major problem in some countries is that people are notinterested in water per se, but rather in improving their own material well-being. It isnecessary to find a way to interest them and involve them in the processes for change.

Mountain forest management

� Indigenous knowledge and culture are important. However, there is a lack of knowledge onhow to use this information as a necessary complement to scientific and technical expertiseand data.

� The lack of data (indicators providing assessment, valuation and monitoring) is a constraintto improving the knowledge base.

� Sorting myths and facts about water, soil and climate interactions and influences, i.e. to whatextent forests and forest-related ecosystems can benefit water quality and quantity and riskcontrol.

� Capacity building (human resources [HR] and institutional) is needed at all levels.Integrated watershed management is implemented and supported by everyday people, notsolely by exclusive expertise.

Introduction

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Integrated water resources management: upland–lowland linkages and interactions

� Need to rethink scale issues within upstream–downstream issues: across temporal andspatial scales; biophysical and socio-economic linkages; consider transboundary issues.

� Embed economic valuation in multisectoral watershed management (WM): management andpolicies that take account of all multisectoral supply, demand and environmental costs andbenefits; incorporate viable and appropriate downstream–upstream or upstream–downstreampayment for environmental services (PES) schemes; consider return of investment in WMprojects; appropriate time scales for investment; include equity issues and right of access towater – the “human and ecological reserve”.

� More inclusive approach to WM required: technology alone does not provide the solution; needto live with uncertainty; move from coercive to non-coercive policies; develop multistakeholderprocess; move from management to adaptive management.

A committee consisting of participants from various disciplines and countries prepared asynthesis of the findings of the conference. The “Sassari Declaration”, which was presented atthe final plenary session and accepted by the participants, is presented below.

SASSARI DECLARATION

The province of Sassari, Sardinia, Italy hosted this conference co-organized by the Food andAgriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the European Observatory ofMountain Forest (EOMF) with the aim to exchange experiences on issues of vital importancefor environmental conservation and sustainable development. Sardinia is representative of theMediterranean environment and of island conditions. Water scarcity, erosion, low forest coverand tourism are major challenges shared by many areas worldwide. Sardinia can be considereda pilot area where studies, analyses, evaluations and methodologies are available to combatdegradation and desertification processes.

The FAO initiative “Review and assessment of watershed management approaches – preparingthe next generation of watershed management programmes” was launched in early 2002 withinthe framework of the International Year of Mountains, and continued into the InternationalYear of Freshwater, 2003. These and other global events highlighted the magnitude andurgency of watershed management problems around the world. The FAO initiative wascarried out in collaboration with several key actors in watershed management and with thecontributions of several institutions and concerned parties and the financial support of severalcountries, such as the Government of the Netherlands, the Government of France and theGovernment of Italy.

Objectives

Within the context of the Millennium Development Goals and with the intent of preparingfor the next generation of watershed management, the objectives of this conference were to:1) provide an adequate opportunity/platform to all concerned parties to share informationand contribute to a better understanding of the current status of watershed management; and


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2) provide advocacy and support for the implementation of effective watershed managementat different levels.

Recommendations

1. There is a need to focus increased global and regional attention on watershed managementbecause watersheds integrate resources, environmental services, uses and users; watershedsconnect people who may never meet and may vary greatly in terms of wealth, livelihoodsand culture; good planning requires good understanding of linkages between upstream anddownstream hydrologic and land-use systems; investments are long-term and generatebenefits and costs across large distances; and interventions that are good for individuals orcommunities may be detrimental to wider societal interests.

2. Outputs from the Sassari conference and the associated regional workshops should be usedto develop a set of guidelines for the next generation of watershed managementprogrammes that can be applied to the design and screening of new projects.

3. Some of the key elements of the guidelines for the next generation of watershedmanagement programmes include: a multisectoral approach; a combination of bottom-upand top-down planning, monitoring and evaluation; clear procedures for environmentalimpact assessment of interventions, including dams and reservoirs; networking among keystakeholders; consideration of socio-economic and cultural aspects and natural processes;gender balance in decision-making; embracing new approaches for sharing knowledge andlearning; sustainable finance; compensation mechanisms; capacity building at all levels;reforming governance, linking surface, groundwater and coastal water sources; shift fromlooking at supply to looking at demand for water; efficiency of water use; coping withhydrologic extremes and natural hazards; and the integrated management of water,vegetation, soils and sediments.

4. Guidelines for the next generation of watershed management programmes should be testedand demonstrated in pilot cases, with planning and implementation from local, national andtransnational scales. These pilot cases should include institutionalization of watershedapproaches into national systems.

5. Considering the need for integrated approaches to watershed management, it isrecommended that donor agencies, financial institutions, government departments, civilsociety organizations and the private sector commit to long-term intersectoral andinnovative planning, finance and execution of watershed management.

6. Because watersheds often span political boundaries, watershed management should be seenas an integrative approach that has value in understanding and resolving conflicts betweenupstream and downstream communities and countries.

7. Because rural and urban poverty is a significant contributing factor to watersheddevelopment and degradation, it is recommended that the multiple linkages betweenpoverty and watershed management be better understood and considered in the planningof both watershed management and poverty alleviation programmes.

8. It is recognized that there is an urgent need to build capacity of all stakeholders(including watershed inhabitants and professionals at the local and national levels) tounderstand and manage the multisectoral processes and approaches necessary foreffective watershed management.

Introduction

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9. At present, land and water governance institutions and policies are often inadequate to supportthe integrative and multisectoral approach needed to implement watershed management. It istherefore recommended that: 1) institutions for integrated basin management be establishedand strengthened with appropriate legal status, resources and financing; 2) there be moreeffective and equitable communication among local communities, managers and policy-makers; and 3) policies be based on clear evidence and tested principles.

10. Access to a minimum amount of safe water should be recognized as a fundamental humanright of all people.

11. Considering that the management over land and water resources is highly fragmented at alllevels, it is recommended that consideration be given to establishing an international forumthat focuses on integrated watershed management, including land-use and human activitiesthat have an impact on water.


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